Generally, in a merchandise sales system of the type mentioned, a cash register and/or a vertical type bar code reader making use of a laser beam are provided in front of a cashier or an operator, and a pair of check-out counter tables each having a flat commodity receiving surface formed thereon are disposed on the left and right sides of the bar code reader. Thus, a basket in which commodities are contained is placed on the right-hand side commodity receiving surface while an empty basket is placed on the left-hand side commodity receiving surface, and a commodity is taken out from the right-hand side basket while data of the commodity such as data regarding a price are read by the bar code reader, and then the commodity for which registration has been completed is thrown into the left-hand side basket.
After completion of registration in this manner of data of all of the commodities which have been initially contained in the right-hand side basket, the left-hand side basket is taken away by the customer while the thus emptied right-hand side basket is moved to the left-hand side location by the operator.
With the conventional check-out counter table having such a construction as described above, when data of commodities are to be read, the operation of picking up a commodity from within the right-hand side basket and throwing it into the left-hand side basket must be performed for each of the commodities. Accordingly, it is desirable that the location of the right-hand side basket be always fixed. To this end, care must be taken upon carrying-in of a basket such that it may be placed at a fixed location. Since this operation, however, is performed by hand, it is difficult to place a basket at the fixed location.
An attempt has thus been made to form on a commodity receiving surface convex and concave portions for stopping a basket compulsorily at a fixed location. While this means is effective in stopping a basket at a fixed location, it presents another problem in that it is low in operability in moving a basket due to the fact that, when an emptied basket is moved to the left-hand side location, the convex and concave portions formed on the commodity receiving wall form an obstruction to such movement of the basket.